For the first time in nearly a century, British Columbia is preparing to be governed by the B.C. Conservative Party.

Preliminary results from Saturday’s provincial election show Lorne Doerkson’s Conservatives elected or leading in 63 of the legislature’s 93 ridings—well above the 47 seats required for a majority government.

The result represents the party’s first provincial election victory and first majority government since 1928, when Simon Fraser Tolmie led the Conservatives to power.

The B.C. NDP is elected or leading in 28 ridings, while the B.C. Greens have won two seats. CentreBC, OneBC and the remaining parties did not elect a candidate.

The Conservatives received approximately 48 per cent of the provincewide vote, compared with 37 per cent for the NDP and 11 per cent for the Greens.

David Eby announced following the defeat that he will step down as NDP leader.

Voters throughout The Raven’s listening area returned a mix of Conservative and New Democratic representatives.

In North Island, Conservative Anna Kindy leads the NDP’s Sara Lopez by 1,311 votes. Kindy received 11,982 votes, compared with 10,671 for Lopez, with all advance and final-voting-day ballot boxes reporting.

Courtenay–Comox produced a closer result, with New Democrat Will Cole-Hamilton leading Conservative Brennan Day by 696 votes. Cole-Hamilton received 13,390 votes, while Day received 12,694.

The NDP also leads in two other ridings within the station’s coverage area.

Josie Osborne received 11,916 votes in Mid Island–Pacific Rim, placing her 1,615 votes ahead of Conservative Joshua Dahling.

In Powell River–Sunshine Coast, Randene Neill leads Conservative John Henderson by 2,627 votes. Neill received just over 49 per cent of the preliminary vote.

One of the closest races anywhere in the province is in Ladysmith–Oceanside, where the lead changed following an update to the initial count.

New Democrat Stephanie Higginson now has 13,380 votes—just 13 more than Conservative Kris McNichol’s 13,367.

Despite all regular ballot boxes reporting, none of the election results are official.

Mail-in ballots, assisted telephone votes and other absentee ballots were not included in the election-night count. Those ballots will be added during the final count, scheduled to begin November 6.

The additional votes could affect the final result in exceptionally close ridings, particularly Ladysmith–Oceanside.